Spathiphyllum hybrid cultivar Maria.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Spathiphyllum plant, botanically known as Spathiphyllum hybrid, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name Maria.
The new cultivar is a product of a planned and controlled breeding program conducted by the Inventors in Apopka, Fla. The objective of the breeding program is to create Spathiphyllum cultivars with improved plant habit, dark green foliage and rapid growth rate. The new cultivar originated from a deliberate cross made by the Inventors in March, 1997 of a unnamed selection of Spathiphyllum, not patented, as the female or seed parent and the Spathiphyllum cultivar Jetty, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 9,957, as the male or pollen parent. The cultivar Maria was discovered and selected by the Inventors as a plant within the progeny of the stated cross in a controlled environment in Apopka, Fla., on Oct. 28, 1998.
Asexual propagation of the new cultivar by tissue culture since October, 1998, in a laboratory in Sebring, Fla., has shown that the unique features of this new Spathiphyllum plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual propagation.
The new Spathiphyllum has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, light intensity, fertilizer level and propagation procedures, without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Mariaxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Mariaxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Upright, somewhat outwardly arching and symmetrical plant habit.
2. Large and broad glossy dark green leaves with slightly undulate leaf margins and thick petioles.
3. Rapid growth rate.
4. Large pure white spathes that are positioned well above the foliage on strong, thick and erect peduncles.
Plants of the new Spathiphyllum differ from plants of the female parent, the unnamed selection of Spathiphyllum hybrid, when grown in side-by-side comparisons in Sebring, Fla., in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Spathiphyllum are smaller than plants of the female selection.
2. Plants of the new Spathiphyllum have broader and more rugose leaves than plants of the female selection.
3. Leaf margins of plants of the new Spathiphyllum are more undulate than leaf margins of plants of the female selection.
Plants of the new Spathiphyllum differ from plants of the male parent, the cultivar Jetty, when grown in side-by-side comparisons in Sebring, Fla., in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Spathiphyllum are more upright and not as outwardly spreading than plants of the cultivar Jetty.
2. Plants of the new Spathiphyllum have darker green and glossier leaves than plants of the cultivar Jetty.
3. Leaf margins of plants of the new Spathiphyllum are not as undulate than leaf margins of plants of the cultivar Jetty.